How It All Started
by csinycastle85
Summary: A look into how this Mary's life forever changed.


**Disclaimer: I do not own MTMS, MTM Enterprises and 20** **th** **Television do.**

 **Big shout out to HippieChic81, Phnxgirl, and SereniteRose for their reviews! Also a BIG thank you to the mtmshow (on Tumblr)**

 **for helping me beta read the whole Caring Family story and this story! You guys all rock!**

 **Author's Note: This a short one shot of how this story series all started!**

 **A/N 2: Okay so I will be taking a break from posting MTMS stories for a few weeks (got a big project to wrap in which I will update you guys. I will be back in January with new stories.**

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-Late March 1973-

My name is Denise McGreer (nee Astley) and I was like everyone else, down to earth, and kind. But I have my faults I love to wash my hands to prevent germs. There is also something different about me: I could sense when something was about to happen in advance.

It was one of those days that I felt uneasy. Actually, it had been happening a lot lately. Today was especially niggling. On one of his rare days off, Lee and I dropped our darling eighteen-month-old daughter Tessa Marina off at the sitter's house while going to meet with the lawyer to go over the final copy of the will. After that, we planned to go before heading out for to watch a movie and then dinner to celebrate Lee's promotion.

Before this month, we hadn't had a will written, but when with the bad feelings I had been experiencing, so I had been telling Lee that we should. Finally, I convinced him. In the will, I added a clause that my high school friend, Mary Richards, would be named as legal guardian of our little girl should anything happen. True, I hadn't been in touch with Mary for a long time. Only through Mrs. Richards did I hear I heard that Mary had been engaged, but ending she had ended the engagement and was working as associate producer for a news station in Minneapolis.

The unease in I felt sometimes within myself was like the sixth sense I had developed when I was young, only strengthened as I got older. However, but I always had to hide it because my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Astley would ridicule it as nonsense. The three people who understood were my best friend Mary Richards and my her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Richards, who in a way became my second parents.

Because of how my parents were, I spent most of my time with Mary and her parents before heading home for bed. Early on, I noted that my parents were conceited, so I strived to be the opposite. It was hard at times, but I persevered.

Problems soon began to arise. The first after came after I and Mary and I graduated from high school. After we spent the summer together, Mary attended a two two-year college two hours away and I attended a local community college, so we gradually lost touch. I only heard updates from Mrs. Richards. The most recent update was that Mary was with a guy named Bill. What is worse is that my relationship with my parents became strained. After finishing up at the community college, with a degree in nursing. I moved away from my parents and moved up north to Duluth to work towards my dreams of becoming a nurse. My parents had been against my going to college and wanted me married right away. When I met Lee McGreer and my parents found out they became nasty and hostile, because Lee was Chinese. Even if Lee's adoptive parents were Caucasian, my parents remained inconsiderate and rude. His parents on the other hand, on the other hand, were loving and caring.

The final straw was when I got engaged to Lee and eloped with him. I remembered my parents' exact words were, "You are no daughter of ours!"

As if that wasn't enough of an insult, they added, "We will NOT recognize any child you have."

After we got married, life was good at first. But soon after we graduated from college, Lee's parents died unexpectedly. We would have been homeless, but fortunately, a family friend helped out and gave us an apartment in which if needed Lee would help with repairs if needed. Lee also got a job working as an electrician while I got a job working as a secretary. Money was tight, but we made it work. Then I found out I was pregnant. Both I and Lee and I were overjoyed. I continued working until Tessa Marina McGreer was born, then I became a stay at home mother. Yes, her middle name is indeed in honor of Mary.

After meeting with the lawyer, we headed out to dinner. Hopefully, We hoped that with Lee's raise, we can provide for a better for our daughter. As Lee pulled out, we were suddenly blinded by headlights and we could not see what happened.

-x-

Gabriel Musguire sighed. He got had just received a call from the police regarding that his the clients that he had met with a few hours earlier. They had been tragically killed by a drunk driver who also died. He took a deep breath. He was sad, that his clients Lee and Denise were killed so soon after having a final will ready. _Good thing is that their young daughter is now protected,_ he thought. Taking a deep breath, he took it upon himself to located the legal guardian, Mary Richards. Once he had it, he called the number listed for the WJM News Room, he dialed the number and within one ring he heard, "Newsroom, Mary Richards."

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 **A/N 3: Thanks for reading "How It All Started". As always reviews are appreciated!**


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